Systemic modelling and integrated assessment of asset management strategies and staff constraints on distribution network reliability

Abstract

Aging assets, tighter and tighter budget constraints, and Smart Grid technologies will have profound implications on the reliability of electricity distribution networks. The aim of this paper is to study the impact of changing network characteristics on its reliability in a system-of-systems (“systemic”) way. A key reason for attempting this is to capture the compounding effects of interdependencies due to degrading asset reliability (for instance due to aging), different asset management strategies (including condition monitoring and automation options), and staff resource constraints when performing maintenance and repairs. A Monte Carlo based simulation tool that uses OpenDSS as a load f..